When getting a new roof

[Lamb]

What are things to know when getting a new roof? Ours is the original and it's time to replace it.

 

[tango]

Roofing is a project I personally wouldn't attempt myself, it seems there are too many ways for it to go spectacularly wrong and fast.

From what I know of roofing (which is very limited) the big question is whether to go for something like shingles or metal. If you have slate you'll need to either replace them with something else or find a specialist who deals with slate. The last thing you want is someone working with slate who doesn't know how to do it properly, or you end up with cracked slates that let water in.

If you have a flat roof you may be able to have it recovered. We have a flat wooden roof with multiple layers of waterproofing material on it. We had it totally resealed around 15 years ago and since then it hasn't let in a drop of water, whereas before we had the work done there were a few places where it leaked. Not horribly, but I don't really want water dripping into my house and ending up, well, wherever it finds its way.

In principle shingles should be easy enough to work with, and from what I gather should have a useful life of around 30 years. Metal is a bigger deal to fit but should last a long time. It can be done as a DIY job if you know what you're doing and are comfortable with the material and the height - a guy I know replaced his own roof with the help of one other, but he has a fair bit of construction experience. His new metal roof still looks very nice 2-3 years on, and should be good for the rest of his life.

I have no idea what sort of money roofing costs except that most construction these days seems to be expensive.

 

[Lamb]

Roofing is a project I personally wouldn't attempt myself, it seems there are too many ways for it to go spectacularly wrong and fast.

From what I know of roofing (which is very limited) the big question is whether to go for something like shingles or metal. If you have slate you'll need to either replace them with something else or find a specialist who deals with slate. The last thing you want is someone working with slate who doesn't know how to do it properly, or you end up with cracked slates that let water in.

If you have a flat roof you may be able to have it recovered. We have a flat wooden roof with multiple layers of waterproofing material on it. We had it totally resealed around 15 years ago and since then it hasn't let in a drop of water, whereas before we had the work done there were a few places where it leaked. Not horribly, but I don't really want water dripping into my house and ending up, well, wherever it finds its way.

In principle shingles should be easy enough to work with, and from what I gather should have a useful life of around 30 years. Metal is a bigger deal to fit but should last a long time. It can be done as a DIY job if you know what you're doing and are comfortable with the material and the height - a guy I know replaced his own roof with the help of one other, but he has a fair bit of construction experience. His new metal roof still looks very nice 2-3 years on, and should be good for the rest of his life.

I have no idea what sort of money roofing costs except that most construction these days seems to be expensive.

Thanks! It is a basic roof with shingles and I don't know how many squares it is...hoping it doesn't break the bank!

 

[tango]

Thanks! It is a basic roof with shingles and I don't know how many squares it is...hoping it doesn't break the bank!

Seeing how fast some of the local builders work I'd be surprised if they can't strip off the old shingles and apply fresh ones within a day or two. Hopefully a decent contractor will be able to tell you whether you need to replace all of it or just some of it.

 

[Josiah]

I'm NO expert here, the the company I work for get's involved in roofing all the time.... My only advise

1. Since you are unfamiliar with contractors and the scope of the work, I'd get 2 or 3 bids from licensed, bonded contractors in good standing (BBB, reviews, friends). Beware of the neighbors Uncle Billy who is a car mechanic but reroofed his mamma's trailer.

2. Be sure you do this BEFORE adding solar (if you planned to do that)

3. Expect to be shocked by the price. The average single family house costs about $20,000 to re-roof. It can go ever $100,000. I know.



.

 

[Lamb]

I'm NO expert here, the the company I work for get's involved in roofing all the time.... My only advise

1. Since you are unfamiliar with contractors and the scope of the work, I'd get 2 or 3 bids from licensed, bonded contractors in good standing (BBB, reviews, friends). Beware of the neighbors Uncle Billy who is a car mechanic but reroofed his mamma's trailer.

2. Be sure you do this BEFORE adding solar (if you planned to do that)

3. Expect to be shocked by the price. The average single family house costs about $20,000 to re-roof. It can go ever $100,000. I know.



.

I figured about $18,000 range but my husband is stuck in the 1990s with his pricing wishes LOL

 

[Castle Church]

I had our house roof replaced due to age with dimensional asphalt shingles and our cash price was $17K, but that was about 4 years ago. The house is about 1,500sqft. Down here in FL you get 12-18 years off of a asphalt roof, most insurance companies won't insure you if it is older than that.

 

[tango]

I figured about $18,000 range but my husband is stuck in the 1990s with his pricing wishes LOL

When it costs more to replace the roof than it cost to buy the entire house 15-20 years ago, it's easy to see why people go for cheaper options.

 

[~Jo~]

I dread having to replace my roof we would be looking at least £10,000 is not a cheap thing to do so call a roofing company they will come and tell u what u need and a price to do it.

 

[Lamb]

I dread having to replace my roof we would be looking at least £10,000 is not a cheap thing to do so call a roofing company they will come and tell u what u need and a price to do it.

Our is going to cost us $14,000 to replace our roof We can't put in a claim for our homeowners insurance to pay for it since it's still in somewhat decent shape. It's just old and there are parts that might not make it through the next wind storm we have and hurricane season lasts through October. We aren't anywhere near the ocean, but we're close enough to get strong winds from the tropical storms that the hurricanes turn into by the time it reaches us.